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Originally Posted by Molitoth
So what are the collective thoughts on how Neil Armstrong and Neil Degrasse Tyson have been so damning of Space-X?
I think those guys have been douchebags, and I'm really happy Elon keeps proving them wrong.
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I think part of it is old news and part of it is people taking quotes out of context. Armstrong's comments came in 2012 before the first Dragon had ever launched to ISS, let alone all the progress with rocket reusability. Even then, he wasn't happy with the way his comments were portrayed.
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It isn't everyday that you get a letter from Neil Armstrong, yes, that Neil Armstrong. And it's particularly noteworthy when the first man to walk on the moon has a bone to pick with you. Armstrong wrote us recently about a story we did for 60 Minutes on Elon Musk and his SpaceX Corporation. ....
Armstrong wrote us to say we had not been complete in our description of his testimony. He's right. When you look at what Armstrong said to Congress, you see that while he was "not confident" that the newcomers could achieve safety and cost goals in the near term, he did want to "encourage" them. We should have made that clear in our 60 Minutes report and in our story on The CBS Evening News. Also, we should have spelled out that his concerns were directed toward the "newcomers" in general and not SpaceX in particular.
Scott Pelley Managing Editor, The CBS Evening News Co-Editor, 60 Minutes
June 21, 2012
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As for NGT, he has a tendency of trying to be a bit controversial for the publicity IMO. Even then, his actual stance is just that SpaceX won't get to Mars without NASA's help. And I don't disagree with that. NASA's role is obviously shifting, but they're still critical to space exploration.
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"I'm simultaneously one of SpaceX's biggest critics and supporters," he said in response to a question about how advances such as SpaceX's reusable rockets will affect humanity's efforts to get to Mars in the near future.
Projects "that are hugely expensive and dangerous, with uncertain returns on investments, make poor activities of profit-driven companies," Tyson added. "Governments do these things first, allowing private enterprise to learn what to do and what not to do, then come next with a plan that involves us all. So my read of history is that private companies will not be the first to send humans to Mars unless government actually pays for it.
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